


Roads Taken

by stargatefan_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-23
Updated: 2004-01-23
Packaged: 2018-10-06 20:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10343916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatefan_archivist/pseuds/stargatefan_archivist
Summary: SPOILERS : Point of ViewSUMMARY : Jack and Daniel contemplate roads not taken after returning through the quantum mirror after the events in "Points of View".





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Stargate SG-1 FanFiction - Roads Taken

##  Roads Taken

##### Written by Wendy Myers   
Comments? Write to us at [djspcemnky@aol.com](mailto:djspcemnky@aol.com)

  * SPOILERS : Point of View 
  * SUMMARY : Jack and Daniel contemplate roads not taken after returning through the quantum mirror after the events in "Points of View". 
  * PG [HC] [M] 



* * *

Sam watched Daniel and Teal'c touch the mirror and come home and smiled. "Welcome back," she said. 

Teal'c nodded and Daniel gave a quick smile, then winced. 

That's when she saw it.  She reached out a hand.  "What happened?  Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. 

Daniel moved away from the touch.  "Guards came in and found me.  I wasn't too cooperative to their questioning," he explained.  "I'm fine, Sam."  

Sam didn't look too convinced and glanced at Teal'c. 

At that moment, Jack appeared and took Daniel by the arm.  "Hello, kids," he greeted as he led the linguist from the room. 

"Hey!" Daniel protested.  "Where are we going?" 

"You are going to the infirmary, Daniel." 

"What?" Daniel and Sam said in unison. 

Sam and Teal'c trailed behind them. 

Jack raised a finger.  "Ah! I don't wanna hear it." He opened his hand and waved it around the abrasion on Daniel's cheekbone.  "Doc will patch that up and I want her to check you for anything else.  You were *zatted*, for Pete's sake!" 

Sam's eyes went wide and stared at Daniel.  She came up beside him.  "Zatted? Daniel?" 

"I'm fine," Daniel tried to reassure her. 

"Apophis did not believe the theory of alternate realities," explained Teal'c.  "He believed DanielJackson was lying about our presence in the facility." 

Daniel flashed a look of annoyance over his shoulder at the Jaffa.  "But I'm fine now," he said, turning back to those at his sides. 

"Yeah," said Jack, not convinced. "We'll see after Frasier looks at you." 

Daniel sighed. 

********** 

Daniel sat on the bed as a nurse cleaned the graze on his cheek and placed a bandage on it. 

The other members of his team were standing around him.  All were awaiting the good doctor's prognosis. 

Frasier walked in with a folder.  "I see nothing wrong.  Outside of the abrasion on your cheek, Daniel, you're fine." 

Daniel gave a "told you so" look to Jack. 

"Are you having any residual discomfort from the zat blast?" Janet asked. 

Daniel shook his head.  Jack and Kowalsky helped him walk off the effects of the zat gun as they trekked back to the mirror.  "I'm fine.  Honest." 

Dr. Frasier closed the folder.  "Okay, but I don't want you driving for the next twenty-four hours." She quelled the protest she knew was coming with a look.  "And I don't want you being alone tonight.  We have very little knowledge about the effects of a zat gun on a human...yes, I'm aware of yours and the colonel's experiences in the past with this weapon.  Your body has been given a large electrical dose.  Like slamming into an electrical fence."  

"Hurts like hell," Jack commented. 

Daniel glared at him. 

"Are we clear?" Janet asked, turning the attention back to her.  "Or you spend a night here in the infirmary.  Your choice." 

Daniel grimaced.  "No driving for twenty-four hours and not home alone tonight.  Got it," he acquiesced. 

Jack spoke.  "I'll make sure he sticks to it, doc." 

Janet nodded.  "All right.  That's it.  You can go."  

Sam hugged Daniel.  "Glad you're all right."  She released him and left. 

Teal'c nodded and departed. 

That left Jack.  "C'mon, let's change and go home." 

Daniel smiled and shook his head as he got off the bed.  A night spent with Jack usually entailed hockey, Chinese take-out and beer.  Sometimes stargazing entered the picture, but not tonight. 

******************** 

"Aw, come *on*! My *mother* could make that shot!"  Jack groused. 

Daniel smiled as he watched his friend.  He'd never met a man so into hockey like Jack.  Then again, he'd never met anyone like Jack.  His smile faltered as he thought of the connotations of that. 

"Hey, Jack?" 

"Yeah?  All right!"  Jack cheered as his team scored the winning goal, ending the game.  "Woohoo!"  He gloated for a few moments before calming down and remembering his guest.  "I'm sorry, Daniel.  What?" 

Daniel smiled self-consciously.  "I was just wondering..." He paused, trying to get his thoughts together.  "Have you ever wondered what path you would've taken, given the choice other than this one?" 

Jack sobered.  "You mean if I didn't decide to join the Stargate program?" 

Daniel nodded. 

"I'd probably be dead." 

Daniel was surprised, then remembered.  "Because of..."  Charlie's name was deliberately left unsaid.  The death of Jack's only child was still a sore spot for the Air Force colonel. 

Jack nodded and took a swig of beer from his bottle.  "They recruited me for my "special" training."  He set the empty bottle down.  "What about you?  I noticed that this is the second reality where you weren't with the program.  Why?" 

Daniel shrugged.  "Don't know."  He fiddled with his bottle before setting it on the coffee table.  "Here I was, and probably still am, a laughing stock of the academic world.  My cross-pollination theories were considered radical and my theories about the pyramids were..." He gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Well, y'know.  Anyway, I'd been evicted from my apartment for failure to pay the rent, lost my grants and, pretty much, my credibility in the academic field 

when Catherine approached me with the offer to join this project.  I had nothing left to lose by accepting."  He paused.  "Catherine, in the alternate reality I went to, said I, the Daniel in that world, was rude to her when I...he...refused." 

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Rude?"  

Daniel dismissed it with a wave.  "Anyway, I was wondering the 'what if's' about our chosen paths.  The choices we make really do affect the overall outcome, don't they?" 

"Yeah, they do."  Jack rose from his seat to sit beside Daniel.  "But remember this," he said, looking Daniel directly in the eye.  "*This* is the reality that counts.  You are a part of this program and a vital part of this team.  Got that?" 

Daniel stared at Jack for a few moments, letting the words sink in, then nodded.  "Yeah."  He gave a small grin.  He broke the gaze and rose from his seat. "This beer really does go to my head.  I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." 

"You are a cheap date. Y'know that, Daniel?" 

Daniel chuckled as he headed to his room.  Just before he disappeared from the living room, he turned and gazed at his friend.  "Thanks, Jack." 

Jack smiled.  "G'night, Daniel." 

"G'night." 

Jack set about cleaning up before heading to bed himself.  While he did, he thought about their conversation.  

He couldn't envision the project without Daniel. The Egyptologist/ archaeologist/ anthropologist/ linguist was the wunderkind of the SGC, the soul and conscience of it all.  More than that, Dr. Jackson had wormed his way through Jack's defenses and restored humanity to a hard-assed, Black Ops-trained Air Force colonel whose main purpose on that first trip was a suicide mission.  This "dweeb wearing long hair, glasses and sneezes" had more guts and stamina than a lot of military men Jack knew.  Four years later, the man, no longer a "dweeb", had the sneezing under control with the help of Fraiser's meds and had gotten a haircut, but the rest remain relatively the same. 

Teal'c was right.  This was the only reality of consequence. 

And Jack wouldn't have it any other way. 

**The End**

  


* * *

  


> Notes: As will all plotbunnies, this one came through like Bugs Bunny on 
> 
> speed and beat me until I wrote it. *g* Thanx to my betas and those that got sneak 
> 
> peek for initial opinions (you know who you are) *g*

* * *

> © December, 2003 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.   
> 

* * *

  



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